current

Old Faithful

Apparently, although not visibly, Americans are moving away from religion. The new, new silent majority (well, growing minority) are the irreligious millennials. This seems contrary to everything one can possibly consume through media channels. The common experience of America is that America is driven by religiosity, and that religious freedom is the most important Constitutional Right, next to the Second Amendment—the one about a well regulated militia . In fact, for many religious Americans, the first two amendments to the Constitution are the Constitution, and therefore, America.

But back to religiosity. Religion, as defined as “a particular system of faith and worship”, is on the decline among millennials. The Pew Research Center’s survey focused on Americans’ religious beliefs and practices. Essentially, the numbers suggest polarization along religious lines may be increasing in the United States. Although the percentage of Americans who responded that they are unaffiliated with any religious tradition is growing, those who identify with a religion are becoming more devout. The political implications are apparent.

The disaffection with formal religious institutions among millennials is not the same as lack of spirituality or morality. The survey explored traditional religious practices in association with traditional religious institutions.

I suspect that for those for whom faith in a deity and in an organized religion, the religious institution is a source of community and structure, rules and regulations, charity and ideals. For those for whom faith is not found in religious structures or descriptions, they may still seek a spiritual life (or not), and still seek community and morality, humanitarian causes and social justice, rules and regulations, charity and ideals. But it’s hard to have faith in institutions these days.

That’s what unites these two seemingly disparate (and desperate) states of America: The lack of faith in institutions seems to be pervasive. For some, there is faith in religious institutions and not in government; for others, there is faith (although perhaps dissatisfaction) in governmental and social institutions, and not in religious ones.
Faith is elusive when seeing evidence of the contrary. It’s hard to have faith in a person or institution when one’s belief is seemingly contradicted. Cops killing unarmed suspects, makes it hard to have faith in police. Daily shootings, often seemingly random, makes it hard to have faith in our gun laws. Schools dictated by tests, and colleges bankrupting young adults and families make it hard to have faith in education. People who are so anti-government they are willing to do anything to gain power to obstruct the government, make it hard to have faith in our institutions or in people. Knowing how much it takes to live a middle class life, much less leave a legacy, makes it very difficult to have faith in our economic system, or in our future.

Faith is future oriented, based on our feelings in the present. Ironically, it is history that can provide us the comfort necessary for faith. It is an accurate understanding of the unfolding of history, not as an ideological story, but more of a scientific and evolutionary approach to understanding circumstances and their impacts. It is not a predictor, and differences between historical moments are important to acknowledge. But we have seen religious eras, and progressive eras; chaotic times when violence was rampant and government was flailing. We’ve seen threatening times, and war too many times. And what seems unique now, has parallels.

I have faith in evolution. Sometimes I forget that we can evolve personally, because the evidence is often so contrary to my belief. Likewise, it’s easy to lose faith in our institutions, because we seem so stuck, and we confuse images and stories with knowledge,and we are often unwise. It’s difficult to see evolution, especially when we are overwhelmed by replays of old conflicts  with current unenlightened players. I don’t know the significance of the study on Americans and religion. It’s always evolving. We will continue to evolve. On that, I guess you can count me among the faithful.

From Greatness to Goodness

As a culture, we seem to be hell bent on greatness. The push to be the best is our birthright and our destiny. How can we be anything other than the greatest? That’s the definition of America, isn’t it? And of the approximately 10 generations since the birth of the greatest nation on earth, the Greatest Generation fought and won WWII. Oh dear….if the greatest generation has already lived it’s life span, then of course we are in decline as a nation.

But the story of The Greatest Generation lives on, and for the children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren, success and excellence are the expectations. The post-WWII generations aspired to greater education, greater professions,greater salaries, greater houses, greater cars, greater tvs and stereos, and later computers and much greater electronics and stuff.

For a while, mid-century, there was greater inclusion and justice. There was greater art and music, and innovations in early education, entertainment and medicine. Neil Armstrong became the faceless face of American greatness of spirit and technology. Somehow anything was possible if “we” could put a man on the moon.

We like to think that greatness is in our American DNA, and therefore shared among Americans. Even as we cherish individualism, we like to think that we all have some share of the greatness. If we have inherited greatness in our American DNA, then certainly we can pass on the Greatness Genome.

Usually, we associate greatness with exceptional achievement. Sometimes, greatness is merely celebrity or renown. We attribute significance to those whom we consider to have greatness.

Those who bemoan our loss of greatness, tend to find significance in power and status, sometimes at the expense of goodness.

I am more interested in goodness than in greatness. If my students grew up to be good citizens, and my children responsible, caring adults, and I could contribute even through writing, that would be good work.

We’ve had national failures throughout our history, and recently a series of setbacks and scares that have many suggesting that our greatest days are behind us. Like any of us have experienced individually, failures and setbacks demand recalibration. Instead of focusing on power and status, focusing on goodness–doing good work– will surely bring about true greatness.

When we have been undeniably great, we have fought tyranny and injustice. We have created opportunities for all, regardless of status or background. We have connected and protected each other and been generous. We have extended goodwill and behaved with integrity and benevolence. When we have been truly at our greatest, we have manifested goodness.

Right of Spring

As an arts and education activist– a culturalist– I am always delving into how traditions and cultural symbols and expressions reflect our ideas and ideals, as well as inspire. This week many celebrate Passover and Easter, and recount the ancient stories of slavery to liberation, sacrifice and resurrection. Families and friends feast on foods and participate in rituals that evoke these tales, and seek relevance to our own struggles. We have  the opportunity to celebrate the newness and beauty of the nature and culture of Spring.

 

Aside from religious rituals of Spring, I was thinking about other cultural expressions, and of course Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” sprung to mind. For those not familiar with the music, it hardly evokes images of Spring. The music is harsh and, although interesting, is almost the opposite of the way we like to think of Spring as crocuses, chirping birds and fluttering butterflies. Similarly, the ballet, originally choreographed by Nijinsky, was initially poorly received as the dances and dancers were contrary to audience notions of beauty and grace or the loveliness of Spring. The music and ballet (and also Matisse’s “Dance” that was painted around the same time as Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”composition) recalled elements of paganism in an avant-garde approach. Their modernist works upended cultural notions and referenced paganism as a means to pushing cultural boundaries. If Spring was about transformation and (re)birth, the birth of modernism transformed cultural sensibilities (in frightening geo political ways as well). This modernism is over a century old.

 

We often think of Modern as new, but what is the new Rite of Spring? We still have much to transform.  A couple of years ago, the world watched as uprisings across the Arab world gave rise to what was coined the Arab Spring. There was hope and possibility in the air that dictatorships and harsh rule and economic inequalities would be transformed , and that Democracy would ensue.

 

As of this writing, the Supreme Court is examining the legal implications of gay marriage. At this moment in our history, it seems as though public opinion is far ahead of the Court on gay marriage. In previous eras, the Court created the legal paths for civil rights, and cultural attitudes had to adjust to the legal reality. Now, we have a different situation: The Supreme Court is wrestling with the right to marry after the cultural shift toward marriage equality for gay couples. This is the Right of this Spring. Now we need new cultural arts compositions to reflect our new ideals and inspire the next generations.